SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Bryce Eldridge hasn’t forgotten the first time he took batting practice at Oracle Park. Mainly because he’s still a bit perturbed.
Eldridge, as custom, took some hacks at his future ballpark after officially signing with the Giants, who selected him with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He didn’t leave the stadium without hitting a homer. But a Splash Hit — at least one on the fly — is still on his itinerary.
“I bounced one into the water,” said Eldrige, the Giants’ top prospect. “I’m still pissed off about it to this day. So, hopefully, at some point this year, we’ll make it happen.”
If the 20-year-old Eldridge, currently in major-league camp for the first time in his career, continues his current trajectory, he could enjoy ample opportunities to land a ball in McCovey Cove at some point this year. Those ample opportunities, though, likely won’t be any time in the spring. Or the summer, for that matter.
At the Winter Meetings in Dallas, president of baseball operations Buster Posey tempered expectations regarding the possibility of Eldridge making his debut this season. Posey didn’t rule it out entirely but emphasized that the team wants to make sure Eldridge receives the necessary experience before being called up. Eldridge, for his part, understands his season won’t start in the Bay Area.
When asked Monday about his goals for spring training, he acknowledged that the Giants will likely send him to minor-league camp at some point. While he knows he’s starting this season with Triple-A Sacramento, he wants to end his year in San Francisco.
“I think the goal here is to make a good impression with all these guys and build relationships,” Eldridge said. “Just build relationships and leave here with these guys thinking that they need me on their team. That’s the goal. Whenever they send me back to minor-league camp — or whatever the plan is for them — have them thinking, ‘We want this guy back as soon as possible.’
“I’m going to do that by continuing to have a good mentality, treat these guys right, be respectful, do the right things and it will take care of itself.”
The right attitude won’t hurt Eldridge as he tries to evolve from Sacramento River Cat to San Francisco Giant, but the best way to turn Oracle Park into his home office is to hit. In his first full season, Eldridge did hit.
Eldridge began last year with Low-A San Jose, leaped to High-A Eugene by June, made a cameo with Double-A Richmond and ended the regular season with Triple-A Sacramento, putting up results anywhere and everywhere. In 116 games across four levels, Eldridge had a .291 batting average and .516 slugging percentage with 23 homers and 92 RBIs. At the Arizona Fall League, Eldridge posted a .293/.348/.512 slash line with two homers over 10 games. Despite his youth, he’s already caught the attention of the Giants’ new $182 million dollar man.
“He’s giant,” said new shortstop Willy Adames. “I watched some videos of him hitting bombs. I think he could be a really important piece of this organization whenever he comes up. Hopefully this year — early this year — because we need all the help we can get. As far as (personality), I think he’s an amazing guy so far.”
“There’s some patience to what he does,” said manager Bob Melvin. “There’s power. He uses the whole field. It’s advanced for (age 20).”
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But in playing a lot of games in a lot of uniforms at a lot of stadiums, Eldridge lost a lot of weight.
Eldridge didn’t specify how much, but by the end of the season, his weight dropped to the high 100s instead of the low 200s. He admitted he wasn’t feeling great by the Arizona Fall League, and as he embarks on the final leg of his minor-league career, he wants to stay strong wire-to-wire.
While Eldridge has enough pop to be a power threat at any ballpark — FanGraphs assessed his future “raw power” as an 80 on the 20-80 scale — the biggest area for him to grow is with the glove.
Initially drafted as a two-way player, Eldridge made his professional debut in right field before the Giants transitioned him to first base last year. He experienced his share of hiccups in his first full year at the position, committing 18 errors over 100 games in the field. Lucky for him, he’ll have the opportunity in camp to lean on two of the franchise’s iconic first basemen.
Eldridge has already worked with Will Clark, sharing that his dad couldn’t believe he had the opportunity to learn from The Thrill. Along with Clark, the list of guest instructors includes J.T. Snow, a six-time Gold Glove Award winner who Eldridge called a “first base guru.”
“That’s something I could really use in my life right now,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge, who will wear No. 88 this spring, was thrilled to finally make his way to Scottsdale Stadium after spending about a month at the team’s minor-league facility on the other side of town, joking that the Giants “had to chain me back from this place.” The list of players he’s already met includes Justin Verlander, who he took a selfie with as a kid when Verlander still pitched for the Detroit Tigers. Eldridge will likely get into his fair share of games during camp, and while he maintains high expectations for himself, the Giants will not put pressure to perform on their top prospect — one who is not yet of legal drinking age.
In time, Eldridge will step into the left-handed batter’s box at Oracle Park and take aim at McCovey Cove. For the time being, the party deck beyond the right-field wall at Scottsdale Stadium will serve as a fine consolation.
